Assistant football coach Nick Quartaro, who had served as Mark Mangino’s offensive coordinator during his entire five-year tenure at Kansas University, announced Friday he is resigning from his position to pursue opportunities outside of the coaching profession.
“Nick has been a dedicated and important member of our coaching staff since his arrival at Kansas,” Mangino said in a released statement. “He’s played a key role in the development of our program. We also appreciate the positive impact he’s had on our staff and team. I wish Nick and his family nothing but success and good fortune in the future.”
Over the past five seasons, 19 KU offensive players earned All-Big 12 honors, including a pair of Big 12 Newcomers of the Year (Bill Whittemore in 2002, Joe Vaughn in 2003).
This season KU averaged 176.9 rushing yards per game, which was the program’s highest average since 1995. Senior Jon Cornish led the Big 12 in rushing and became KU’s single-season rushing yardage record holder with 1,457 yards in 12 games.
In KU’s 42-13 Fort Worth Bowl win over Houston last December, the Quartaro-led offense set a handful of KU bowl records, including most passing yards (340), passing touchdowns (4) and first downs gained (29).
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to have coached at KU these last five years,” Quartaro said. “I have especially enjoyed working alongside the high character coaches who make up the staff, as well as the quality young men whom I have coached. The respect for the Jayhawk football program among the Big 12 schools, as well as on a national level, has grown tremendously. With the leadership in place and facility improvements in the works, the program will continue to climb to greater heights.”
For more on this story, read tomorrow’s Lawrence Journal-World.
